Ajmer–Hyderabad Meenakshi Express

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Jaipur –Hyderabad Meenakshi Express

Overview

Locale

India

Predecessor

Meenakshi Express

First service

September 2012

Current operator(s)

Indian Railways

Route

Distance travelled

1,849 km (1,149 mi)

Average journey time

16 hours 00 minutes

Service frequency

Twice weekly

Train number(s)

12720 (from Hyderabad)
12719 (from Jaipur)

Technical

Track gauge

1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in)

Operating speed

109 km/h (68 mph)

Route map

Jaipur-Hyderabad Express is a train started by Indian Railways in September 2012. It connects Ajmer/Jaipur in Rajasthan with Hyderabad the capital of Telangana. It replaced a train called Meenakshi Express that used to run from Jaipur to Kacheguda near Secunderabad on metre gauge but was cancelled when the track was being converted to 5 ft 6 in (1,676 mm) broad gauge.

Nomenclature

The train is unofficially called by the name of its earlier avatar Meenakshi Express. At Hyderabad it is simply called Ajmer Express and at Ajmer it is simply called Hyderabad Express. An earlier train Nagarjuna Express that ran between Tenali and Secunderabad and was terminated in the middle of 2007 had the train numbers but ran on a completely different route.

Schedule

The train runs twice a week. Train number 12720 departs every Monday and Wednesday at 20:25 hours. from Hyderabad (station code HYB) and at 20.55 hours from Secunderabad and reaches Jaipur (station code JP) after 33 hours at 05.25 hours. on Wednesday and Friday respectively. In the return direction, train number 12719 departs Jaipur every Wednesday and Friday at 15.20 hours. and reaches Hyderabad at 00.45 hours after 33 hours. The distance is 1,849 km (1,149 mi).

Route

The train stops at Nizamabad, Mudkhed, Nanded, Purna, Hingoli, Washim, Akola, Burhanpur, Khandwa, Itarsi, Bhopal, Ujjain, Ratlam, Neemuch, Mandsaur, Chittorgarh, Bhilwara, Ajmer & Phulera en route.

When the metre gauge track between Akola and Khandwa passing through Satpura mountains & Khandwa-Indore section are converted to broad gauge, the distance will shorten to 1,573 km (977 mi)and the time taken by the train will be reduced to 29 hours & the train will take the original route of Meenakshi Express.

Rake composition

The train has one AC 2 tier, two AC 3 tier, seven sleeper, six unreserved second and two luggage-cum-brake van coaches with no pantry car but its run with LHB rake from 2 July 2017, now it has one AC 2 tier, nine AC 3 tier, seven sleeper class, two general unreserved coaches and two generator car cum luggage van.

Loco link

The train uses to be led by Moula Ali Diesel Shed based Twin WDM3A Locomotive from Hyderabad in both directions. The train reverses direction at Purna and Ratlam with stoppage of 20 mins in both stations.

History

Delhi-Jaipur-Ahmedabad Line was laid in Broad Gauge up till Marwar bypassing Ajmer via Madar. But Malwa-Rajputhana Railways did blunder & laid Udaipur-Chanderiya-Gurla as a Metre Gauge. Thus by 1873, the British had to convert BG line from Delhi to Marwar as a Metre Gauge with addition of Ajmer station. Jaipur – Madar – Ratlam – Indore was fully laid in Broad Gauge via Chittorgarh & Nimach up till Chandrawatiganj. Again Malwa-Rajputhana Railways did blunder & laid Ujjain – Chandrawatiganj – Indore in Metre Gauge & further completed the line till Khandwa. A parallel Broad Gauge line from Omkareswar to Khandwa was laid by British along with Akola-Purna Broad Gauge line in 1890–1895 AD. But Nizam Guaranteed Railways had laid the Ajanta Line from Hyderabad to Manmad in Metre Gauge by 1895 AD. Keeping the request of Nizam, the British converted Madar – Chittorgarh – Ratlam – Chandrawatiganj & Akola – Hingoli – Purna Broad Gauge line as a Metre Gauge in 1900 AD. Thus the 1,349 km (838 mi) long Ajmer – Chittorgarh – Ratlam/Ujjain – Chandrawatiganj – Indore – Mhow – Barwaha – Khandwa – Akola – Purna – Nanded – Kacheguda Meter Gauge Line came into existence. The parallel Broad Gauge line from Barwaha to Khandwa was scrapped in 1901 & the Nizam Guaranteed Railways started Meenakshi Express on the metre-gauge track to link the Hyderabad-Godavari Valley Railways and Malwa-Rajputhana Railways. The Khandwa–Akola metre gauge was opened in 1963 but even then no direct service was between Ajmer and Hyderabad. In 1976 railway minister Shri Kamlapat Tripathi announce amalgamation of 69/70 Ajmer-Khandwa and 581/582 Khandwa-Kacheguda passenger. Then Ajmer-Kachiguda passenger was longest 1,326 km (824 mi) Metre Gauge Passenger train in the country. The train used to run every day to Ajmer via Nizamabad, Nanded, Purna, Akola, Khandwa, Indore MG, Ratlam, Neemuch, Mandsaur and Chittorgarh. In October 1977 railway minister Shri Madhu Dandvate started 69/70 bi-weekly Ajmer-kacheguda express later on Shri Madhavrao Scindia increase the frequency 2-5-7 and extended to Jaipur. Though the train does not go to Ujjain, it stops at Fatehabad junction which is about 22.80 km (14.17 mi) each from Ujjain. This train was unofficially called Meenaxi express as it was proposed to extend to Madurai where famous MEENAXI temple is there, but it was never done and the train was discontinued in phase manner due to gauge conversion.

It was named Minakshi possibly because

The Mahur Ekvira or Ekaveera Aayee, of Nanded district, which is the most adorable goddess of Marathi people and people living around Nizamabad and Adilabad districts, is also known Minakshi aayee.
Mahakali goddess of Ujjain, which is also adored as Minakshi.

Many Muslims of Hyderabad travel by the train for ziyarat to the dargah of Gharīb Nawāz Khwaja Moinuddin Chisti Sharif in Ajmer. Pushkar is a Hindu sacred place near Ajmer.

Also there are many Hindus of Hyderabad who travels to Pushkar, a sacred place for Hindus.

Another train with similar name

Hyderabad-Ajmer Express (train numbers 17019 and 17020) is another train that runs between Hyderabad and Ajmer once a week. From Purna it goes to Manmad and then Itarsi. Therefore, the distance is longer at 2,025 km (1,258 mi) and the time taken is 37 hours 30 minutes .

References

"12720/Hyderabad – Ajmer Superfast Express". India Rail Info.
"Railway Budget speech 1978–79" (PDF). indianrailways.gov.in. Government of India, Ministry of Railways. 21 February 1978.
"17020/Hyderabad – Ajmer Weekly Express". India Rail Info.

South Central Railway. "(untitled)" (Press release).

v t e Railways in Northern India
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Branch lines/ sections	Agra–Bhopal section Ahmedabad–Udaipur line Allahabad–Mau–Gorakhpur main line Ambala–Attari line Amritsar–Khem Karan line Amritsar–Pathankot line Aunrihar–Jaunpur line Barauni–Gorakhpur, Raxaul and Jainagar lines Bathinda–Rewari line Bathinda–Rajpura line Bikaner–Rewari line Bhanupli–Leh line Chandigarh–Sahnewal line Delhi–Fazilka line Delhi–Kalka line Delhi–Meerut–Saharanpur line Delhi–Moradabad line Jalandhar–Firozpur line Jalandhar–Jammu line Jammu–Baramulla line Jodhpur–Bathinda line Jodhpur–Jaisalmer line Kanpur–Delhi section Laksar–Dehradun line Lucknow–Gorakhpur line Lucknow–Moradabad line Ludhiana–Fazilka line Ludhiana–Jakhal line Marwar Junction–Munabao line Mathura–Vadodara section Mau–Ghazipur–Dildarnagar main line Merta Road–Rewari line Moradabad–Ambala line Mughalsarai–Kanpur section Rewari–Rohtak line Shri Ganganagar–Sadulpur line Suratgarh–Bathinda line Varanasi–Chhapra line Varanasi–Lucknow main line Varanasi–Rae Bareli–Lucknow line Varanasi–Sultanpur–Lucknow line
Urban and suburban rail transport	Delhi Suburban Railway Delhi Metro (Blue Green Grey Magenta Orange Pink Red Violet Yellow) Rapid Metro Gurgaon Lucknow–Kanpur Suburban Railway Barabanki–Lucknow Suburban Railway Delhi–Meerut RRTS
Heritage railways	Kalka–Shimla Railway
Monorails	Patiala State Monorail Trainways
Defunct lines	Jammu–Sialkot line
Manufacturing units and workshops	Banaras Locomotive Works Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala Modern Coach Factory, Raebareli
Railway companies	Northern Railway North Eastern Railway North Central Railway North Western Railway East Indian Railway Company Kangra Valley Railway Rajputana–Malwa Railway Tirhut Railway Oudh and Tirhut Railway Indian Branch Railway Company Oudh and Rohilkhand Railway Cawnpore–Burhwal Railway Cawnpore–Barabanki Railway Lucknow–Bareilly Railway Bengal and North Western Railway Rohilkund and Kumaon Railway Mashrak–Thawe Extension Railway Lucknow–Sitapur–Seramow Provincial State Railway Bareilly–Pilibheet Provincial State Railway Segowlie–Raxaul Railway Delhi Metro Rail Corporation National Capital Region Transport Corporation
See also	Indian Railways Bholu (mascot) 1974 railway strike in India Haryana Orbital Rail Corridor

Railways in Southern India

Authority

Railway companies

Defunct	East Coast State Railway Hyderabad–Godavari Valley Railways Madras Railway Madras and Southern Mahratta Railway Mysore State Railway Nizam's Guaranteed State Railway South Indian Railway Company Southern Mahratta Railway

Zones and divisions

East Coast	Waltair
South Central	Guntakal Guntur Hyderabad Secunderabad Vijayawada
Southern	Chennai Madurai Palakkad Salem Thiruvananthapuram Tiruchirappalli
South Western	Bangalore Hubli Mysore

Workshops

Depots

Electric Loco	Arakkonam Erode Guntakal Kazipet Krishnarajapuram Lallaguda Royapuram Vijayawada Visakhapatnam
Diesel Loco	Coonoor Erode Ernakulam Golden Rock Gooty Guntakal Hubli Kazipet Krishnarajapuram Tondiarpet Vijayawada Visakhapatnam
Steam Loco	Coonoor
Multiple Unit	Avadi Bangalore Kollam Palakkad Tambaram Velachery Vijayawada

Lines

Main	Chennai–Bangalore Chennai–Howrah Chennai–Gudur Gudur–Vijayawada Vijayawada–Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam–Khurda Road Chennai–New Delhi Chennai–Mumbai Renigunta–Guntakal Guntakal–Solapur
Broad Gauge	Bangalore–Hassan Bangalore–Hubli Bangalore–Mysore Bhimavaram–Narasapur Chamarajanagar–Mysore Chennai–Thanjavur Cochin–Shoranur Ernakulam–Kayamkulam Ernakulam–Kottayam–Kayamkulam Erode–Tiruchirappalli Gudivada–Machilipatnam Gudur–Renigunta Guntakal–Vasco da Gama Guntur–Tenali Guntur–Vijayawada Jolarpettai–Shoranur Kanyakumari–Thiruvananthapuram Kazipet–Vijayawada Konkan Railway Kirandul–Kothavalasa Kollam–Sengottai Kollam–Thiruvananthapuram Kothapalli–Manoharabad Madurai–Tirunelveli Manamadurai–Rameswaram Manamadurai–Virudhunagar Mangalore–Mysore Mangalore–Shoranur Motumarri–Vishnupuram Nagercoil–Tirunelveli Nallapadu–Nandyal Nallapadu–Pagidipalli Nandyal–Guntakal Nandyal–Yerraguntla Nidadavolu–Vijayawada Nilambur–Shoranur Palakkad–Pollachi Peddapalli–Nizamabad Pune–Londa Samalkot–Kakinada Secunderabad–Dhone Secunderabad–Manmad Secunderabad–Nagpur Tenali–Repalle Tiruchirappalli–Viluppuram
Mountain	Nilgiri Mountain Railway
Defunct	Cochin State Forest Tramway Kundala Valley Railway Nilambur–Nanjangud line Sabarimala Railway

Passenger trains

Stations

Major	Arakkonam Jn. Chengalpattu Jn. Bengaluru KSR Bengaluru Yesvantpur Jn. Chennai Avadi Chennai Central Chennai Egmore Tambaram Coimbatore Jn. Ernakulam Jn. Hyderabad Hyderabad Deccan Kacheguda Secunderabad Jn. Katpadi Jn. Kollam Jn. Kozhikode Madurai Jn. Mysuru Jn. Thiruvananthapuram Central Thrissur Tirupati Tiruvallur Vijayawada Jn. Visakhapatnam Jn.

Suburban and metro

Operational

Suburban	Chennai Suburban Chennai MRTS Hyderabad MMTS
Metro	Chennai Metro Kochi Metro Hyderabad Metro Namma Metro

Proposed

Railway companies

Accidents
and incidents

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